POLLUTION

Pollution is waste that we put into the environment. It can
harm plants and animals, including humans. Pollution comes from factories, and
also from homes, farming, cars, ships, trucks, and aircraft. It includes smoke
from fires, exhaust gases from engines, poisonous chemicals from industrial
processes, rubbish such as plastic packaging, and sewage. These things pollute
the landscape, rivers, lakes, seas, and the air. Noise and light can also be
forms of pollution.

AIR POLLUTION

The city of Bangkok in Thailand is affected by smog – a mix
of smoke and fog. It causes difficulties for people with breathing problems,
such as asthma and bronchitis. Smoke from car engines, power stations, and
factories is made up of waste gases, dust, and tiny particles of unburned fuel.
These harmful waste gases include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon
dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Some of the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere trap heat from
the Sun. This is called the greenhouse effect, because the atmosphere works
like the glass in a greenhouse. The greenhouse effect is natural, but pollution
causes an increase in the gases that produce it, including carbon dioxide,
water vapour, and methane.

ACID RAIN

Many trees are killed by
acidic rain formed from pollutants in the air, especially sulphur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides. These gases mix with water in the atmosphere to form rain that
is acidic. Acid rain also kills aquatic life when it runs into ponds and lakes.

ACCIDENTAL POLLUTION

Leaks from oil tankers
into the sea create oil slicks on the water surface. Where the oil reaches the
shore, it covers beaches and kills seabirds.